Sheets | ✓

THIRTY-SIX

Dense?

"Dense?" I asked, pushing against Nico's chest, though it took all of my strength to move far away enough to just see his face. Surprisingly, there was a soft smile on his face, though his eyes may have glimmered with a little disappointment, making my stomach roll.

"Super dense," Nico said, bumping my forehead with his. "You know, you're supposed to be really smart, but sometimes I swear you're stupid as hell."

"Says the one who repeated a year!" I retorted, my pride a little bruised after his jab. "And who was it that wrote our whole bio report that got an A+ from Ms. Levenson? Definitely not you!"

"Hey, hey, I'm not saying that you're, you know, academically dumb," Nico said, pinching my sides affectionately. "Just think about something for a second, babe."

Babe.

Dropping that single syllable silenced me, my head spinning. 

Babe, babe, babe. He's said it three times now. Slipping it once is an accident, twice is a joke. Three times? What did that mean?

Nico chuckled at my reaction, snapping me out of my daze. Clearing my throat, I frowned as I peered up at Nico, who had started rubbing lazy circles with his thumbs at my hip.

"Th-Think about what?" I asked, Nico laughing.

"So we've had sex," Nico said bluntly, making me choke on air. "Multiple times."

"Y-Yeah?" I replied, averting my gaze from Nico's, cheeks flaming.

"And we've been on dates," Nico continued, my head whirling around, mouth popping open. 

"Date? When the heck have we been on a date?" I asked, genuinely taken aback. Nico's smile faltered, his frown mirroring mine as his fingers stopped circling my waist. A speckle of guilt that arose from somewhere I couldn't pinpoint sprouted inside me at his expression. Sighing, Nico released one of his hands from my side to trap my head to avoid me looking away.

"How many times have I cooked for you? The rooftop picnic? Any of this ring a bell?"

Cooking for me... he counts that as a date? I thought that was just... two guys eating together. Does he not eat with all those girls he always had draped over his arm?

"I-I can't remember how many times..." I replied honestly, Nico's frown disappearing as he nodded. 

"Which means a lot, doesn't it?"

"I guess so..."

"And how many times have I driven you to school?" Nico questioned, eyes alight under the ceiling lights.

"Many times...?"

"Have you ever seen me driving people to school before?"

Have I? To be honest... I never really saw him at school before in the first place. It's only this year that he's been attending properly, and for a lot of that he has been the one to drive me to school.

"I don't think so," I replied, voice weak and unsure. Nico didn't say anything, and just smiled as he pressed a small kiss to the corner of my mouth.

"And who do I always call the moment I wake up?"

Who...?

"Who do I let drag me out of bed at ungodly hours in the morning, even when I just want to sleep?"

Maybe...

"And who did I punch one of my close friends for?"

Don't tell me...